Abortion Rates Plummet, Thanks to Obamacare Study Shows

Though Obamacare will continue to come under fire, now more than ever as the campaign continues to run headlong into election day, a new study shows that there has been a significant plummet in abortions thanks to the free birth control provided under this much debated health care plan.

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A study published by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and which appears online in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology reveals that the substantially lowered cost of birth control have reduced the rate of unplanned pregnancies and abortions by 62 percent to the recently calculated 78 percent.

What's more, researchers note, is that the rise appears to have no leveling off point.

"The impact of providing no-cost birth control was far greater than we expected in terms of unintended pregnancies," says lead author Jeff Peipert, MD, PhD, the Robert J. Terry Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "We think improving access to birth control, particularly IUDs and implants, coupled with education on the most effective methods has the potential to significantly decrease the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in this country."

Sexually active teens and adults, specifically those who rely on government assistance, normally would not have fiscal access to birth-control pills with previous costs of 35 to 60 dollars a refill; nor could they ever afford more long-lasting methods of birth-control which can cost more than $800 and may not be covered by insurance.

However, the now free pills and cheaper costs of the more long-lasting methods of contraception such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) or implants, which have lower failure rates than commonly used birth control pills, have helped women maintain a healthy burden-free sex life.

The World Health Organization reports that each year, about 50 percent of all U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, far higher than in other developed countries. About half of these pregnancies result from women not using contraception and half from incorrect or irregular use.

The study enrolled, 9,256 sexually active women and adolescents ranging from age 14-45 who were shown to be at risk for unintended pregnancies and agreed to medical intervention.

From 2008 to 2010, annual abortion rates among study participants ranged from 4.4 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. This is a substantial drop (62 percent to 78 percent) over the national rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available.

Among girls ages 15-19, the annual birth rate was 6.3 per 1,000, far below the U.S. rate of 34.3 per 1,000 for girls the same age.

The results were also supplemented by findings from a national collection of data from Planned Parenthood.

The study also indicated that with cost no longer a factor, women and girls could chose methods that best suited them. Birth control pills were and are much cheaper than all other forms of birth control, however it requires constant use and for those who cannot remember to take it everyday, it presents a problem.